Political/Current Events Random, Pics, and Videos Thread

Article on top five lobbyist groups campaigning to keep marijuana illegal.

Quote:

Republic Report
1.) Police Unions: Police departments across the country have become dependent on federal drug war grants to finance their budget. In March, we published a story revealing that a police union lobbyist in California coordinated the effort to defeat Prop 19, a ballot measure in 2010 to legalize marijuana, while helping his police department clients collect tens of millions in federal marijuana-eradication grants. And it’s not just in California. Federal lobbying disclosures show that other police union lobbyists have pushed for stiffer penalties for marijuana-related crimes nationwide.

2.) Private Prisons Corporations: Private prison corporations make millions by incarcerating people who have been imprisoned for drug crimes, including marijuana. As Republic Report’s Matt Stoller noted last year, Corrections Corporation of America, one of the largest for-profit prison companies, revealed in a regulatory filing that continuing the drug war is part in parcel to their business strategy. Prison companies have spent millions bankrolling pro-drug war politicians and have used secretive front groups, like the American Legislative Exchange Council, to pass harsh sentencing requirements for drug crimes.

3.) Alcohol and Beer Companies: Fearing competition for the dollars Americans spend on leisure, alcohol and tobacco interests have lobbied to keep marijuana out of reach. For instance, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors contributed campaign contributions to a committee set up to prevent marijuana from being legalized and taxed.

4.) Pharmaceutical Corporations: Like the sin industries listed above, pharmaceutical interests would like to keep marijuana illegal so American don’t have the option of cheap medical alternatives to their products. Howard Wooldridge, a retired police officer who now lobbies the government to relax marijuana prohibition laws, told Republic Report that next to police unions, the “second biggest opponent on Capitol Hill is big PhRMA” because marijuana can replace “everything from Advil to Vicodin and other expensive pills.”

5.) Prison Guard Unions: Prison guard unions have a vested interest in keeping people behind bars just like for-profit prison companies. In 2008, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association spent a whopping $1 million to defeat a measure that would have “reduced sentences and parole times for nonviolent drug offenders while emphasizing drug treatment over prison.”

See original article linked to at the top of the quote for additional links and their source material.

This appears to be effective tax rate (% of AGI). It appears that only once you get to the top 0.0074% (about 8,000 out of 108,000,000 filers) with AGI of $10 mil + that the effective rates start dropping.

What I am not clear about is what the last part of this phrase means: 'total income tax as a percentage of adjusted gross income less deficit." Less what deficit? I have never heard that term used before as it relates to personal income taxes.

I can also tell you our effective rate was over 20% but we were under the $200k - $500k AGI group so I would like to see the source data.

"This whole thing with Obama saying the rich don't pay their taxes is ------- bullshit. And I voted for the guy, and I'm a Democrat. What a ------- -------. The rich don't pay their taxes? Let me tell you something, right. First they say to you, you're dead broke, 'the United States of America, you can do anything you want, go for it.' So then you go for it and then you make it, and everyone's like '---- you.'"

Quickly, you pick up on the "OMG, WHITE RACISM!" brigade coming out to play, so I play with them. I mean, re-reading the thread, half a dozen posts in I make it pretty clear I'm doing the same thing you are in that thread Brainy.

Then you posted that wonderful post which demonstrated it absolutely perfectly. Queue "OMG, WHITE RACISM!" brigade doing a complete 180 from what they were saying about Zimmerman.

I've proved what I wanted to boo, and Mg demonstrates just how well I proved it. Rank hypocrisy is rank hypocrisy, no matter how much you try to slice it.

I suppose I need to throw in some standard GOP vs. Dem ----, but I really don't have the heart to do it. Both sides of the spectrum are so full of this hypocrisy it's not even funny anymore. Even I cannot post "Yeah, this is just like every other Republican! OMG OMG! Hypocriites!" when I see the same people doing this ---- constantly on the other side too.

I mean, it's not every day you are so butthurt you feel the need to specifically call out a poster like that, right?

P.S. Seriously Brainy, I'm not joking when I said earlier to not take stuff posted in politics so seriously. I only post here for lulz, a politics section on a car forum is about as good of a choice for political debate as a Republican convention. (Okay, I admit, I almost wanted to say Democrat, but that was too easy.)

1. Accuse others of trolling, demand serious discussion.
2. Post inflammatory material, ludicrous claims, open challenges, etc.
3. When said post is refuted, claim you baited them into the refutation to prove a (nebulous) point.
4. When it's pointed out that you proved nothing, claim others are getting butthurt over silly internet stuff.